Futures Game open thread

With the Royals game being banged today because of weather, we are officially at the All-Star break. The festivities begin today in Coors Field in Denver with the Futures Game, where the top prospects in baseball assemble for a seven-inning contest to give fans a glimpse of what is to come.

The Royals will have two stars in the game, infielder Bobby Witt, Jr., who was ranked the #2 prospect in all of baseball by Baseball Prospectus this week, and first baseman Nick Pratto, who is fifth among all Double-A players in home runs with 14. Witt got off to a bit of a slow start, but has been on a torrid pace since then, hitting .295/.375/.553 with 13 home runs and 14 steals in 54 games for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. His teammate, Pratto, has completely turned his career around after a disastrous 2019 season, hitting .276/.407/.593 with a 16.5 percent walk rate.

Both will be in the starting lineup for the American League club, managed by LaTroy Hawkins.

The National League club will be managed by Vinny Castilla.

The game begins at 2 p.m. CT and will air on MLB Network and simulcast on MLB.com. It will be followed by the Celebrity Softball Game, which will feature stars like JoJo Siwa, The Miz, Quavo, Residente, Noah Beck, DK Metcalf, CC Sabathia, and Larry Walker.